The following discussion of the background to the invention is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention only. It should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge of the person skilled in the art in any jurisdiction as at the priority date of the invention.
Mobile phones have recently surpassed the conventional desktop or laptop PCs as a popular means for people to connect to the internet. This in part has been fueled by social networks and mobile software applications. The main advantage of mobile phones is in their ability to be connected to the Internet wherever the user is. Mobile phone users may receive and/or respond to Instant messaging messages, “Facebook™” tags, “Tweets™”, surf the Internet via a mobile web browser instantly wherever the users are, as long as data connection (GSM, GPRS, 3G, Wi-Fi etc.) can be established.
The above advantages complement markets where a majority of telecommunication carrier subscribers prefer mobile data post-paid plans. Subscribers of these post-paid plans generally do not mind paying more per month to have unlimited Internet data access or a data usage capped at a relatively larger size, for example 12 Gigabytes (GB).
Another recent phenomenon is the use of “broadband dongles”—USB powered devices that allow computing devices such as Personal Computers/laptops to connect to the Internet using the mobile network operator (MNO) networks (3G/4G etc.)
However, providing “always on” Internet or data connection for smartphones and dongle-powered PCs has remained a challenge for telecommunications carriers in markets dominated by users who prefer “prepaid plans” (or “pay-as-you-go” plans). Users under these prepaid plans are less willing to pay a relatively larger subscription fee for full unlimited internet access. A typical prepaid plan is based on a pay-per-specified-time model, such as for example 10 pesos for 30 minutes of fast Internet connection (i.e. at maximum bandwidth as provided by the mobile network carrier). Another variation to the pay-per-specified time model may be a daily “always on” access to only social networking sites such as Facebook™ or Twitter™ for 20 pesos per day.
The above mentioned prepaid/pay-per-specified-time plans do not offer enough flexibility to subscribers. For example, many users may be interested in visiting certain websites or URLs but not others. Further, certain telecommunications carriers may be able to provide certain services such as URLs or APIs free of charge to their subscribers without the need to pay for Internet access, or providing free of charge certain mobile applications or ‘apps’, without the need to pay for downloading such mobile applications. Subscribers to such telecommunications carriers may be only interested in these specific mobile applications, URLs or APIs without the need for general Internet access, but at present there is no system or mechanism to allow flexibility to toggle between a paid and free Internet access service.
As prepaid plan subscribers are sensitive to cost, another challenge for telecommunications carriers is to deliver Internet connection at relatively lower “sachet” price points, such as below 20 pesos daily, while still providing prepaid plan users with “always on” experience. While this may be possible for certain phones which are efficient in terms of consuming data bandwidth (such as feature phones or a Blackberry™ for example), it is typically difficult to implement such “sachet” price points for more recent smartphones models which require relatively higher data bandwidth because to do so may be unprofitable for mobile network operators (MNOs) or telecommunications carrier. MNOs typically have relatively limited Internet bandwidth as compared to full Internet service providers. From the perspective of the MNOs, the relevant question for implementing “sachet” price points for smartphone models would be“What kind of Internet service can be offered profitably at 5 peso (or approximately US 10 cents per day) to capture the markets of these smartphone users?”
Along the same line of cost consideration for prepaid plan subscribers, a fixed cost per unit time (e.g. 10 pesos per 30 minutes) plan may be deemed relatively more expensive for a user with Internet access outside an area with high network coverage (e.g. metro areas) compared to a user within the metro area. A prepaid plan subscriber outside the metro area requires more time to download a file or carry out certain actions (such as video streaming) compared to a subscriber within the metro area. This is due to the relative less dense network coverage in non-metro areas. In such cases, a user may be unduly penalized with a pay-per-specified-time plan.
In light of the above, there also exists a need for different charging plans and billing mechanisms that caters to pre-paid subscribers depending on the location of the subscriber.
The present invention seeks to address the above mentioned concerns and provide a system and method that alleviates the above mentioned drawbacks at least in part.